Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS
CITY ON A HILL
Birmingham, Rugby and Milton Keynes were opening up
for us. There were now many cell group leaders, and some
brothers also began to lead Sunday gospel meetings in Warwickshire,
Leicester and Birmingham. There was more scope
for ministry and many of us felt we were getting our teeth
into something.
By August we had bought Dayspring in Northampton and
Plough Hall Farm in Warwickshire with 120 acres of pasture.
Fruit-picking, potato-harvesting, gooseberry-grading, and
straw-carting now occupied much of our spare time. We enjoyed
it and whistled ‘Happy the days in Zion’s fields’.
As the year progressed, we were increasingly active in farm
work, business and drives towards church growth and evangelism.
Lethargy was knocked on the head, and rusty disciple
bands were galvanised into action. The good old days of
community lounging were over and the church lumbered into
widespread evangelism. We sang a Moravian hymn.
The love of Christ their hearts constrain,
And strengthens now their busy hands.
They spend their blood and sweat and pains
To cultivate Emmanuel’s lands.
Some of us looked aghast. It was all toil, strife, labour, industry,
prayer and burning zeal! ‘If you’re not Evan Roberts,
you’re backslidden!’ grumbled one farm brother. As Noel
blasted passivity, Zion’s dreamers groaned. We were not out
of the woods yet. Throughout the church, those who had sat
through the repentance time untouched or even cynical, continued
deaf to this new call to action.
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